I have a around a hundred hours of MP3s saved locally that are linked to in an .m3u playlist in the same folder. These are not stored on my laptop but rather on a file server. I'd like to stream these to my laptop over the net, using something like the Shoutcast protocol. I'd like to be able to open the stream in iTunes.

Does anyone know of any software for Windows that will let me do this easily? Icecast looks a little complicated, I'm not even sure it has MP3 support built in due to patent issues (maybe you have to compile it from source?)

The files are also labelled sequentially (001_song.mp3, 002_song.mp3) so if the software can't load an .m3u that isn't a problem.

You mention iTunes, but I know Winamp handles Shoutcast streams with ease, as both the server and playback client. It's been several years since I did this, but I do remember it was relatively straight-forward to setup and get running. In fact, the hardest part (if you could call it that) was opening up the relevant ports in my router.

As I say, not sure how well iTunes handles shoutcast streams (if at all), but I would certainly recommend Winamp instead.

I have a around a hundred hours of MP3s saved locally that are linked to in an .m3u playlist in the same folder. These are not stored on my laptop but rather on a file server. I'd like to stream these to my laptop over the net, using something like the Shoutcast protocol. I'd like to be able to open the stream in iTunes.

Does anyone know of any software for Windows that will let me do this easily? Icecast looks a little complicated, I'm not even sure it has MP3 support built in due to patent issues (maybe you have to compile it from source?)

The files are also labelled sequentially (001_song.mp3, 002_song.mp3) so if the software can't load an .m3u that isn't a problem.

Thanks for reading!

Addendum: gapless playback would be a huge plus

Actually Xbox Music for Windows 8 is designed to do this, however, Microsoft is not providing proper support for all local music files. If they fix this, that will be a nifty solution to your problem but don't hold your breath. They want to force you to purchase and Xbox Music pass and buy all of your music from the Xbox Music store. Let's hope they see the error of their ways.

If you properly tag your rips, the Xbox cloud may recognized them in their database and you will be able to stream them (or most of them anyway).

You mention iTunes, but I know Winamp handles Shoutcast streams with ease, as both the server and playback client. It's been several years since I did this, but I do remember it was relatively straight-forward to setup and get running. In fact, the hardest part (if you could call it that) was opening up the relevant ports in my router.

As I say, not sure how well iTunes handles shoutcast streams (if at all), but I would certainly recommend Winamp instead.

Thank you. The laptop is running OS X which is why I'd like to use iTunes -- it's much better on Mac than on Windows. The new beta Winamp for OS X may also solve my issue. I will try the streaming server portion of Winamp. Maybe it will even be UPnP compatible now

Actually Xbox Music for Windows 8 is designed to do this, however, Microsoft is not providing proper support for all local music files. If they fix this, that will be a nifty solution to your problem but don't hold your breath. They want to force you to purchase and Xbox Music pass and buy all of your music from the Xbox Music store. Let's hope they see the error of their ways.

If you properly tag your rips, the Xbox cloud may recognized them in their database and you will be able to stream them (or most of them anyway).

I see. Unfortunately although the rips are tagged, they are pretty obscure electronic songs that aren't available for purchase anywhere except Beatport, so I doubt Xbox Music would have them. I am also running Server 2008 R2 and I don't believe I will get access to the Windows 8 apps without an upgrade to Server 2012.